Monday, July 1, 2019

A proposition for you

In a recent continuing education class for real estate agents, the instructor challenged each participant to share his/her own Unique Value Proposition—the answer when a potential client asks, “What makes you different from other realtors?”  

Most of the answers at first were along the lines of “I will listen to your needs and work like a dog to fulfill them!” or “I will market your property in a dozen new-fangled ways that will get you buyers!”

The instructor wasn’t impressed.  These are part of our basic job description—the OLD CAR acronym of Obedience (legal and ethical), Loyalty, Disclosure, Confidentiality, Accountability, and Reasonable care and diligence.  

Then the instructor asked about people’s interests and previous careers. He told the story of a new agent who had been for many years a paralegal in a real estate law firm, who had never realized how that experience could position him as an agent.  The instructor discovered one of the class participants had been a bookkeeper, and he discussed how that position shows diligence, attention to detail, and every part of the OLD CAR acronym.  


What about me?  Yes, I’m all about service and the OLD CAR model.  Yes, I’m a way better listener than a talker.  Yes, I ascribe to the Keller Williams ideal of “Win-Win or no deal”.  But what else?  What can we make of this?  How can I turn the following points into a very brief Unique Value Proposition?
  • I studied opera in college, and dreamed of an opera career.
  • I advanced from administrative assistant/word processing jobs to typesetting, to programming with typesetting languages, to being project manager/business analyst for projects using those languages.
  • As a former business analyst and a current opera blogger/reviewer, I have good analytical and writing skills.
  • If I had the resources I’d operate a rescue pet sanctuary.  
  • I crochet as a hobby, and have donated more scarves, hats, and blankets than you can shake a crochet hook at.  (My family and friends don’t want any more crocheted gifts!)
This is something I'm still working on.  Not having the definitive answer today does not stop me from trying to do the work.